RIVAL BONES - 'Strangefruit' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. Beautiful Dangerous

2. Tie So Tight

3. Pull Me Under

4. Hot Blooded

23rd November sees the return of Liverpool based RIVAL BONES, with their new EP “Strangefruit”. Those of you familiar with the band will know RIVAL BONES comprises James Whitehouse and Chris Thomason. Those of you, like me, encountering them for the first time will be wondering why there’s just two names in the credit when it clearly sounds like there are a multitude of musicians on this EP. Perhaps it’s some form of modern musical slavery?? Are these two really mischievous, musical masterminds??? Should we call Scooby Doo…or just admit that these two are actually incredibly talented musicians?

So, the EP then? It weighs in at 4 songs and 13 minutes and highlights the breadth of the bands’ abilities – both in writing and most especially playing.

“Beautiful/Dangerous” opens the EP and is probably the most accessible of the songs for newcomers…you get hints of the sturm und drang which these guys are capable of giving you, while retaining that slight Pop element which means those of us with (ahem) delicate ears will stick around to listen rather than just skipping on.

“Tie So Tight” is second up and the first thing that strikes me is that James sounds remarkably like Lemmy…whether this is deliberate or not, the vocal style does half the battle for you – sound like Lemmy? What’s not to like??

“Pull Me Under” opens with guitars that remind you of “School’s Out” but then develops into a great song. There are elements of the Lemmy-style in there as well the poppy feel of “Beautiful/Dangerous”. Of the four, it’s by far my favourite.

“Hot Blooded” has a mid 90’s feel about it…I don’t want to use the ‘N’ word but it sounds like it could have come from that era. There also feels like there’s a bit of genre cliché in the lyrics, which is a disappointment from a band as talented as this.

Overall this is a good EP, with some great songs and outstanding musicianship. If I’m 100% honest, it’s not really my cup of tea but there’s enough promise in this EP to make me think Rival Bones will be big.